Gill Passman wrote:

k wrote:
Got home from a rained out vacation
(do I see a theme building here) last
night... haven't been able to see the
news so will watch tonight. When was
the last time the Thames floaded?

k :-)


The last bad flood here was 2003 although it has flooded elsewhere I
think. The worst flood was in 1947 which according to our local
council's website is a 60 cyclical flooding.....so I guess we are due
for it although you would have hoped that flood defenses would have
improved drastically in 60 years....

You might, but the problem turns out to be that you _can't_ protect against
flooding. If you try to confine the water, it just ends up going higher
(and eroding the defenses).

The US Corps of Engineers got wise to this probably 20 years ago when there
was wide-spread flooding on the Mississippi. In the end, it's a whole lot
simpler (and safer for everybody) _not_ to try to prevent flooding, and to
just not let anybody build on the flood plain.
--
derek
- Unless otherwise noted, I speak for myself, not rec.ponds.moderated
moderators.